Stress within your comfort zone can help you perform under pressure, motivate you to do your best, even keep you safe when danger looms. But when stress becomes overwhelming, it can damage your mood and relationships, and lead to a host of serious mental and physical health problems. The trouble is that modern life is so full of frustrations, deadlines, and demands that many of us don’t even realize how stressed we are. By recognizing the symptoms and causes of stress, you can take the first steps to reducing its harmful effects and improving your quality of life. Whether you’re trying to build your tolerance to stress or cope with its symptoms, you have much more control over stress than you might think. Unfortunately, many of us try to deal with stress in ways that only compound the problem.
We drink too much to unwind at the end of a stressful day, fill up on comfort food, zone out in front of the TV for hours, use pills to relax, or lash out at other people.
However, there are many healthier and more effective ways to cope with stress and its symptoms such as:-
Get moving – Activities that require moving both your arms and your legs are particularly effective at managing stress. Rhythmic exercises such as walking, running, swimming, dancing, and aerobic classes are good choices
Engage socially – The simple act of talking face to face with another human can trigger hormones that relieve stress when you’re feeling uncomfortable, unsure, or unsafe. Even just a brief exchange of kind words or a friendly look from another human being can help calm and soothe your nervous system.
Set aside relaxation time – Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the fight or flight or mobilisation stress response.
Eat a healthy diet – Eating a healthy diet promotes mental health, relieves stress, boosts your energy, improves your outlook, and stabilises your mood.
Get Plenty of Sleep – Feeling tired can increase stress by causing you to think irrationally. At the same time, chronic stress can disrupt your sleep. Whether you’re having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night, there are plenty of ways to improve your sleep so you feel less stressed and more productive and emotionally balanced.
More support
Sometimes we do need the help and input of a third party to assist us and give us new ideas and tools to use. I provide a support structure and empower you with skills to cope.
Contact me at kim@colmankim.com I look forward to chatting with you.
Comments